If there’s one thing games can teach us, it’s that games with a popular license are not to be trusted. This lesson dates back all the way to the days of the Atari 2600 with the E.T. game that nearly broke the industry. Sure, there are a few decent licensed games, but they’re too few and far between. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is the latest effort in a pedigree of so-so Spidey titles that can hopefully buck the trend of being merely passable.
Web of Shadows seems a bit darker than past Spider-Man games, and for good reason; the game is about the symbiotic infection of New York City courtesy of Spider-Man’s arch enemy, Venom and his symbiote suit. Spidey himself has even been infected which means players will get to experience the powers of the black suit firsthand. You can switch between the standard red-and-blue suit and the black suit whenever you want, but there’s a little more to it than that. It’s sort of like Fable; symbiote-suit Spider-Man is perceived as being more on the evil side, so using it more would cause civilians to fear you and other Marvel heroes in the game might not want to team up with you (of course this means the villains will like you). But the purpose of switching suits isn’t just for balancing good/evil points. The suits have their own attributes – the black suit is more about raw strength and power than the normal suit which favors speed, agility, and webslinging skills.
Combat appears to be fairly simple to wrap your head around and not unlike what you may have seen in other action games. You’ll be balancing melee and ranged (read: webbing) attacks to form combos between different enemies. Shadows features a lock-on system as well, so you won’t have to worry about losing track of who you were just smacking around. Once defeated, the fallen baddies will make with the spoils in the form of EXP orbs, just like in Crackdown (speaking of, keep your eyes on the rooftops for some collectables). To keep things interesting, there will also be segments where you’ll be fighting while scaling buildings or swinging through the air, in true Spidey fashion.
As we mentioned before, other Marvel heroes and villains will be making appearances in the game. Recently shown footage of the game reveals a fight against a Venom-ized Wolverine. Streetwise tough guy Luke Cage will also be making an appearance as you’ll be fighting along side him to help fend off enemies from a neighborhood under siege. Classic Spider-Man enemy, Vulture, is on the bill as well and one would probably be safe in the assumption that you’ll be going up against Venom at some point, too...
So it’s a Spider-Man game set in a sandbox-style playground of the big apple. Yeah, we’ve seen that before but Web of Shadows definitely seems promising nonetheless.
Visually, the game seems to take on a sort of comic-like vibe which makes a lot of sense. Webslinging – a big part of what makes a Spider-Man game fun to play - is supposed to be a lot friendlier here as well. Hopefully, this will all add up to a game that is worthy to join greats like Goldeneye 007 (N64) and The Chronicles of Riddick (Xbox) as one of the few superb examples of licensed titles done right.
Webheads and superhero fans can look forward to this holiday season, when Spider-Man: Web of Shadows hits pretty much every current console imaginable.
VideoGameMedia
8/10/2008
8/09/2008
Well, this sucks. According to SCEA's Al de Leon, the extended battery life kit for PSP is discontinued. The product nearly doubled the battery life on PSP-2000 systems, but came at a slight aesthetic price: a larger battery cover would be installed, creating a bulge in the system. However, with battery life as impressive as 12 hours or more, we were absolutely satisfied with the peripheral.
"Yes, we are discontinuing this product as we look for other opportunities to service the consumer," notes de Leon. Hopefully, we'll see something else that can augment the PSP's battery life."
PSPFANBOY
Monday morning, as part of my meet George Lucas trip to San Francisco, I was taken on a tour of the Letterman Digital Arts Center. No, that’s not where they shoot the Late Show, it’s another one of George Lucas’s massive compounds. Connected directly to places like Skywalker Ranch and Big Rock Ranch with a fat digital pipeline, it’s there that Lucas Arts is currently putting the finishing touches on their hotly anticipated new Star Wars game, Force Unleashed.
George Lucas’s gamers let us get up and personal with the game, showing us extended demos of just what it’s capable of and bragging about all the crazy force powers players will be gifted with. The story, follows another one of those “secret apprentice” storylines that George Lucas seems to have become so obsessed with recently. In the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie it’s all about Anakin Skywalker’s secret apprentice. In the Force Unleashed game, you’re playing Darth Vader’s secret apprentice. Basically, it’s just an excuse to shoe horn in a new character without having to explain why no one has bothered to mention him in any of the other Star Wars stuff you seen.
Darth Vader’s secret apprentice is of course, a Dark Jedi, and over the course of the game it looks like he slowly turns to the light. That lets you have the best of both worlds, creating crazy, wanton destruction early in the game when you’re evil and then I suppose behaving yourself more later on. You’re not just limited to playing this secret apprentice dud though, the game lets you control other force powered characters throughout as well. In fact, the whole thing starts with you playing Darth Vader, and I watched as they played through the opening level where Vader strides through an Imperials versus Wookie battle to find his secret apprentice.
Playing Vader is a lot of fun, and the game lets you use your force powers on literally anything. Vader can rip apart trees, choke out Wookies, or violently crush the life out of his own Imperial Stormtroopers. He’s Vader after all, killing is a reflex.
The Force Powers are the games real selling point though, and they’re bigger than ever. Force pushes throw people across the map, characters held suspended in the air by force grip realistically struggle and flail around trying to find their balance. The effects are bigger, the impact of everything you do is bigger. For perspective on just how powerful your force powers are in the game, at one point during the demo we watched the player use force grip to rip an Imperial Tie Fighter off its moorings in a docking bay, and throw it at a group of soldiers.
Standing there taking the game in though, I couldn’t help but think that for all the flash and story mumbo-jumbo about a secret apprentice, Force Unleashed still looks a lot like it’s just a jazzed up version of the Jedi Knight series. The force powers are huge, but it’s really the same force powers you’re already familiar with. Sure force push throws people further and some of the powers have more lightning and create these cool distortion effects, but at the end of the day it’s still the same powers and you’ll still use them the way you always have. If the game we toyed around with is the one they’re delivering, it’s going to be a lot of fun, just don’t expect it to be a big leap forward in gaming.
cinemablend
Recently announced at E3, the 80GB PlayStation 3 finally has a release date in the UK, 29th August 2008, and will presumably be the same date across Europe. The new 80GB model will phase out the now older 40GB model while sharing the same features (or lack of) at the same price.
The PlayStation 3 80GB model does NOT feature:
* Backwards Compatibility with PS2 Games
* Memory Stick Card Readers
* SACD Playback
* Ethernet Cable
* 4 USB Ports, (The PS3 80GB model features 2)
It is also being bundled with a DualShock 3 rather than a SIXAXIS too, so if you were considering buying a PS3 then hold out just a little longer and grab yourself a great deal, and with the new platinum range which has just been released you'll be able to pick up some get PS3 titles for a decent price.
PSBEYOND
Specifications:
-80gb SKU w/320gb HDD
- 17" 720p HDTV LCD Monitor
- Keyboard
- Built in speakers with headphone jack
- Custom cooling (SilenX fans)
- Size: 16 x 10.5 x 4 inches (when closed)
- Weight: 15 pounds
Old school is poised to make a triumphant return. After countless years of sequels to derivative Mega Man titles, the original Blue Bomber is set to steal the spotlight from his spin-off brethren. Set as a multiplatform release via PSN, Wiiware and Xbox Live, Mega Man 9 returns the series to retro brilliance and gamers all across the world will once again take on the role as one of the most recognizable characters in gaming history.
Gathering from the game’s introduction, the story is as follows: Having renounced his evil ways, the once maniacal scientist, Dr. Wily has decided to protect mankind. It seems that his former enemy, Dr. Light, has built 8 robots which have begun to wreak havoc around the world. But worry not. Dr. Wily has a solution. Through donations, Dr. Wily promises to build robots of his own to stop the threat which Dr. Light has unleashed upon the world. And though the public is easily led to believe such nonsense, what with Dr. Wily airing a video recording of Dr. Light asking for him to join his pursuit of world domination, Mega Man quickly sees through this farce sets off to put an end to the robots’ destruction.
With the revival of such a celebrated character, comes the reawakening of a dormant graphic style. In an era of specs and hardware capabilities, the sight of such artistic simplicity is a much needed breath of fresh air. The 8-bit style is a brilliant approach and returns the classic hero to true retro form. The music isn’t a slouch in the old school department either. From what little snippets we’ve heard through trailers and gameplay videos, the soundtrack sounds to be as memorable as its Nintendo era counterparts.
Gameplay is pure and classic Mega Man. And with the absence of the Slide maneuver and Charge Shot ability, series creator Keiji Inafune and his team are keeping mechanics as simple as possible. “A decade has passed since the last Mega Man, and on this occasion, we specifically chose to go back to our roots. The idea behind it is that we wanted to reintroduce “simple and fun” characteristics of Mega Man to the users.” Keeping with Mega Man tradition, 8 Robot Masters will await our 8-bit hero. And though the game looks to remain old school by design, the inclusion of a female boss character, Splash Woman, will help introduce new ideas to classic concepts.
Fans have long clamored for a true sequel to the original Mega Man series. Set for a September release, Mega Man 9 looks to be all the fans have hoped for. “The aura of excitement around the classic title is coming back. The result will certainly meet the expectations of the fans that have long waited for it. I hope their passion will spark a fire in new generations.”
GameAbyss
Paramount Home Entertainment has finally unwrapped the details to Iron Man's Blu-ray arrival previously confirmed for September 30.
Iron Man will be presented as an Ultimate Edition two-disc set on Blu-ray in widescreen 1080p video and 5.1 Dolby TrueHD audio.
Blu-ray owners will benefit from several supplemental features that won't be found on the single or two-disc DVD sets. "Hall of Armor" will let reviewers zoon in on and study the three Iron Man suits or Iron Monger, then activate a 3-D weapons schematic to see what each suit is packing in terms of firepower.
Also exclusive to Blu-ray is Iron Man IQ, a BD-Live feature allowing viewers to create their own custom multiple-choice questions based on clips from the film and then share them as a working test with friends online.
The full list of over four-hours of bonus features is as follows, most of which is presented in HD.
Disc 1:
Hall of Armor (Blu-ray exclusive)
The Invincible Iron Man (HD)
Origins
Friends & Foes
The Definitive Iron Man
Demon in a Bottle
Extremis and Beyond
Ultimate Iron Man
Deleted/Extended Scenes (HD)
BD Live: Iron Man IQ (Blu-ray exclusive)
Disc 2:
I Am Iron Man (HD)
The Journey Begins
The Suit that makes the Iron Man
The Walk of Destruction
Grounded In Reality
Beneath the Armor
It's All in the Details
A Good Story, Well Told
Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man (HD)
Robert Downey Jr. Screen Test (HD)
The Actor’s Process (scene rehearsal with cast) (HD)
The Onion "Wildly Popular Iron Man Trailer to be Adapted into Full Length Film" (HD)
Theatrical Trailers (HD)
Image Galleries
Note: Iron Man: Ultimate Edition will carry an SRP of $39.99.
Again, the PlayStation Blog has been updated to show what new content is available on the US video store. No movies this week, but there are some new episodes from a collection of TV shows. This includes X'amd, the exclusive-to-PSN anime series. Is it any good? Here's the full list of TV shows which received new episodes this week:
Combat Zone
Cops
Deadliest Catch
Intervention
Nip/Tuck
X'amd: Lost Memories
PS3Fanboy
When you consider the regular price of The Eye of Judgment is $65, this deal becomes readily apparent. This Eye-enabled card game used real cards and the PS3 to create an experience unlike any other -- Yu-Gi-Oh! cosplayers, this game's for you. Considering it includes the (rarely supported) PlayStation Eye, the price isn't too shabby. You can pick up it for $40 at Circuit City, but your local Wal-Mart may also have it for even cheaper: $30. Check your local store to see if you can get lucky.
PS3Fanboy